Today in History

History & Celebrations Today – March 11

Celebrations Today – March 11

Holidays and observances

Celebrations Today – USA: March 11

National Johnny Appleseed Day
National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day
National Promposal Day
National Worship of Tools Day
National Festival of Life in the Cracks Day
International Bagpipe Day
International Day of Awesomeness
National Landline Telephone Day
National Salvation Army Day
National US Paper Money Day

Today in US History: March 11

Sherman Captures Fayetteville


Gen. Joseph E. Johnston
Brady National Photographic Art Gallery, photographer, circa 1860-1865.
Selected Civil War Photographs

During March and April of 1865, troops under command of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston fought General William T. Sherman’s 60,000-man force as it marched north through the Carolinas during the final weeks of the Civil War. On March 11, Sherman captured the town of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and promptly destroyed the Fayetteville arsenal.

Prior to Sherman’s arrival many Southern women worked at the Fayetteville Arsenal, turning out the .58 caliber lead ball cartridges called “minnies” as well as rockets and shells. Approximately 900,000 rounds of small arms munitions were manufactured at the Fayetteville Arsenal over a seven-month period in 1864. Much of the arsenal’s machinery was manufactured at Harper’s Ferry prior to the war.


Sherman’s Troops Removing Ammunition from Fort McAllister
Savannah, Georgia, December 1864.
Selected Civil War Photographs

This photograph of Sherman’s troops removing ammunition in wheelbarrows from Fort McAllister in December 1864 is part of a series documenting Sherman’s March to the Sea in Selected Civil War Photographs.

After marching through Georgia for a month, Sherman stormed Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864. He captured Savannah eight days later. The photos in this series show the dismantling of the fort prior to Sherman’s movement further north.

During the Civil War, women were active on both home fronts. In Fayetteville, women formed groups like the Soldier’s Aid Society, the Sick Soldier’s Relief Society, and the North Carolina Soldier’s Benevolent Society. In Richmond, Mrs. Robert E. Lee and others made bandages for the wounded. Women North and South scraped cotton to make lint for packing wounds, and knit socks to keep their soldier’s feet warm and dry. A few, Louisa May Alcott among them, braved the battlefront as nurses.

In a 1939 interview, Moina Belle Michael placed her grandmother’s story within the context of a popular new novel:

Oh, what a time people had in those days, I think it was remarkable how my grandmother carried on after her father died…she was only eighteen…she took the plantation over and managed it successfully. He was a large land owner and had many slaves. But Sherman’s March…changed all that. I think that the things in Margaret Mitchell’s book ‘Gone With The Wind’ were true…When I was a child and saw those stately men and women so noble and fine it never occurred to me a bad person ever lived.”The Poppy Lady,” Athens, Georgia, February 8-9, 1939.
American Life Histories: Manscripts from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1940


Nurses and Officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission
Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 1864.
Selected Civil War Photographs

To learn more about the role of women in American wars:

Today in History – March 11-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia

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